Eien (Fukutsu no Seishin)
"Nothing steals the breath away quite like those without breath themselves" Background Eien’s origins are long since lost to time. Some wonder if he was ever really hatched from an egg, or if he one day simply came into being. Eien himself does not remember, exactly, but he does know that he was once a normal dragon, back beyond the fogs of time. If any imperial could ever be normal. His first, and only, encounter with an Emperor was back while he was still a full-blooded dragon, but unlike those around him - he does not recall who they were, or how he knew them - he was not struck by fear at the sight of the monster tearing apart the earth and sky before him. Instead, he thought it beautiful, and grieved when the Lightweaver herself came down to smite it. Nothing was left after the deity cast down her judgement, although Eien searched and searched for something - anything - to be a token of remembrance for such a force of nature. First days, then weeks, months, years passed and he never moved from the site of its demise, scrabbling through the dirt as if with enough perseverance something would appear. His life was spent disappointed, as clump of earth after clump of earth failed to reward him, and in a final fit of despair he curled up inside the hollow he had created and- His next awareness was of the darkness of the Hewn City, crumbling structures all around him and no sign of the place the Emperor met its demise. The change of scenery, with no recollection as to why, should have bothered him, and perhaps it would have done if not for the other change. Trying to recall how he had looked before the void was unexpectedly difficult, but instinct told him that his scales weren’t quite the same anymore. Their shape was slightly different, and the colouration held a hue that was foreign to him. His fangs reached lower than before, and as he found a lake, a foreign dragon looked back at him. He was still an imperial, but he was larger now, with a strange magic dancing across his claws and within his core. Somehow, while nothing had remained of the Emperor’s body, its essence had not quite been entirely dissipated and in time had ebbed back to occupy Eien himself. While still himself, his body was irrevocably altered by the experience and his magic reserves, already naturally large, swollen beyond his imagination. Eien considered it a small price to pay, and turned his fascination to other forms of the dead, creating familiars and wandering from place to place, often mistaken for a single-headed Emperor by those familiar with the aura he now emitted. Being driven from place to place spelled his life - either feared by those that didn’t understand, or considered a rival by those that did - until he happened upon an island high in the Starfall Isles. The Arcane clans had always given him mixed receptions, depending on where exactly their morals and ethics lay, but this one allowed him entry with open wings, despite the barrier fizzling away at his scales upon arrival. “You mean us no harm,” the leader said, a fae that would be less than a mouthful if he was so inclined, but she wasn’t wrong and Eien welcomed his new dwellings.'' '' Personality Eien is largely dismissive of others. Few have lived as long as him, and friendship does little in the long run. He prefers the company of the dead, although early experiments showed him that those killed by his own claws were less likely to successfully take to reanimation, leaving him somewhat of a pacifist. He will get excited at the prospect of meeting another Emperor, and there are times when he relieves boredom by purposefully freaking out others, revealing a slightly sadistic streak underneath his layers of dismissiveness. Luckily, it is rare for him to get bored, as corpses seem drawn to him regardless. Role Within the Clan It’s difficult to consider the art of necromancy as vital to the day to day life of a normal clan, and despite being not quite normal, Fukutsu no Seishin rarely has a need to reanimate the dead. Indeed, the only real time it comes in useful is in creating an army. The reanimated do not always last long - depending on various factors from the strength of the original creature, the type of ritual used, to simply how Eien was feeling that day - but they can be used as warriors or scouts to bolster numbers or distract as and when they desire. If members of the clan sometimes bring back the corpses of their vanquished foes - largely beastclans - for him to find, well, that’s their own business. Appearance Eien is a large imperial, with fangs a little too big for his mouth and scars littering his body. The colouration of his scales shifts as and when - sometimes provoked by Eien’s desire for a change, and other times at random with no discernable trigger - but the pattern always remains the same. Mottled scales, like a serpent - or, perhaps more accurately, like several different dragons merged together - with an overlaying outline of a skeleton signify that the strange-looking new imperial is, in fact, still Eien. Abilities Melee A large dragon, with large fangs and claws to match, Eien can hold his own in a physical brawl just as easily as in a magical one, although only the bravest ever dare to test him. He particularly enjoys crushing small creatures beneath his claws, if it isn’t one he wants to later reanimate. Magic A creature born of magic, and further enhanced by magic, Eien is a force to be feared with his magical ability. Age and experience have taught him valuable lessons regarding its use, and while his usual use for it is to resurrect there is nothing stopping him from using other forms of magic. He is the only non Arcane fae in the clan to contribute to the clan’s protective barrier - undead wait in unstable time portals to swoop upon the unwary, if so required. Relationships KetsuekiRyuu His relationship with the clan matriarch is an odd one. They rarely meet - although it’s still the most interaction that Eien has with any single alive being - but there is a mutual respect between the pair of them. While, to Eien, she is young, she is powerful and he does not care to test her. In turn, she defends him from himself, although he does not appreciate being bound to the lair whenever rumours of Emperors abroad reaches the clan. It has become almost a game between them to see if he can break the binding enchantment. So far, he’s had no success. Trivia * Eien (永遠) is Japanese for forever * Eien is a pure gen2 Imperial Category:Light Dragon Category:Imperial Category:Male Category:Necromancer Category:Shapeshifter